South Tyneside soup kitchen aims to raise half a million

A charity that provides meals to vulnerable people in the North East is looking to gather £500,000 in order to expand the services it offers.

Hospitality and Hope, which is based in South Shields, manages a number of soup kitchens and food banks in the town.

The charity is now hoping to move its services into a former pet shop in South Shields, after the Willan Trust purchased the building and agreed to rent it to the organisation at a low rent. As such, Hospitality and Hope is now looking to raise money to open a community café at the site.

The charity also wants to convert the upstairs of the former shop into a supported living area for five males.

“It is really two separate projects. The supported living upstairs will definitely be open before the end of the year but there is an awful lot of work to do… We will be continuing our fundraising and are planning one big fundraising event in the future.”

The project is very ambitious, which is why Hospitality and Hope is looking to raise the half a million to cover the revamp and first year’s running costs.

Luckily for the charity, its volunteers have been fundraising for a while now, and they are well on the way to meeting the target. This will help the organisation to install a cooking space to rival the finest kitchen in Chester, as well as comfortable accommodation.